What is it like to hike to the summit of Alpamayo in Peru, the most beautiful mountain in the world?
In 1966, it won a competition for the most beautiful mountains in the world held in Germany, judged by outdoor photographers and mountaineers, and its fame has remained to this day. Reaching the advanced C1 camp, at 5,300m altitude, is undoubtedly an unforgettable experience.
The approach to Alpamayo begins in the city of Huaraz in northern Peru, located in the Cordillera Blanca, nicknamed the "Andean Himalayas" due to its resemblance to the largest mountain range on the planet, full of pyramidal formations, a fact that differentiates it visually and technically from the Bolivian, Argentinian, and Chilean Andes. Until 2024, the only way to reach the city was by land transport from Lima, taking approximately 8 hours, but last July the city's airport began receiving commercial flights from Lima airport. In the city, you can easily find excellent rental shops for technical glacier equipment. For this route, you will need double boots, crampons, semi-technical ice axes, ice screws, stakes, as well as common vertical equipment such as harnesses, helmets, ropes, carabiners, belay devices, and slings.
Backpacks packed, logistics planned, team formed, and the acclimatization strategy chosen – which can be done with well-known hikes in the city up to around 5,000 meters – we traveled by private transport to the village of Cashapampa, 3 hours from Huaraz, where we began our approach. The first day is relatively easy if the acclimatization strategy has been successful. It's a 4-hour climb to the Llamacoral camp, at 3,750 meters. On day 2, we reached the base camp at 4,300 meters, located at the bottom of a beautiful valley at the foot of Alpamayo and Quitaraju. We spent two nights there as part of the logistics and acclimatization strategy.
On day 4, the destination camp is Morrena, at an altitude of 5,000 meters. It's an arid and rocky location at the base of the glacier, making it quite uncomfortable due to the constant avalanches in the surrounding area, but logistically it's well worth spending at least one night there before the ascent to the advanced C1. The stretch across the glacier between Morrena and the Alpamayo pass with Quitaraju in 2024 contained the most challenging section of the entire expedition: a 10m ice wall, part of which has an inclination greater than 90º (negative). Usually, this section, located only 70m from the camp, has an ice ramp with a comfortable 50º angle, but the amount of snow this season was not enough to maintain this terrain as in previous years. Having overcome the complex section to the beautiful C1, one of the most spectacular on the planet, we set up our camp dug into the snow with the help of our support team and recovered our energy for the summit attempt.
We opted for a strategy of spending 3 nights at Camp 1: the first upon arrival at Morrena, the second for rest, and the third after the summit to make the descent back to BC more recovered from the long hours of the previous day. It is not a strategy commonly applied by other teams on this mountain, but it is considered by our lead guide, André Perlatti, to be the safest. The location also serves as the starting point for the summit attempt on Quitaraju (6,036m).
On day 7 of the expedition, we woke up at midnight to begin the long summit day. We got our gear ready, had breakfast, and headed to the base of the Peruvian-Canadian route, a new path opened by a team of these two nationalities that, in 2024, was the safest route, with the lowest chance of avalanches from the imposing summit mushrooms. Basically, we descended into the small valley between C1 and Alpamayo, avoided some crevasses, and climbed in a straight line to the rimaya, an emblematic glacier rupture zone covering the mountain. This is the second crux (most difficult section), 5-7m long and with a 90º incline. From this point onwards, we accessed the route's gully and climbed 300m with a constant incline of 70-80º. The ice quality in 2024 was excellent except for the rocky section halfway up the wall, where the ice was much harder and thinner. A 60m section that requires a little more time to traverse. From there on, the terrain becomes good for ice axes again, but the altitude starts to take its toll, after all, we're talking about a mountain that's almost 6,000 meters high.
After 11-13 hours of climbing, we reached the summit. The ground conditions at this point are precarious, under a large mushroom cloud with the possibility of collapsing at any moment. We took photos and quickly began the long descent, 10 rappels with lengths varying from 40 to 60 meters each. After almost 15 hours of activity, we reached Camp 1 again for the night. On day 8, we woke up early to pack everything up and finally leave the glacier, passing through Morrena to reach BC where we spent the night. On day 9, we returned to the start of the trail and went back to Huaraz.
This is not an adventure for beginners. Even those with experience in high-altitude mountaineering in Bolivia or Argentina need some experience on a rock face to attempt something of this level. It's 400m of ice climbing, which makes it as complex as it is magnificent. Next expedition in July.
Comments